Means for automatically registering a ship&#39;s draft



F. W. MERRITTAND A. E. WATTS.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERING A SHIPS DRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, I919.

Patented June 7 1921.

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W. IVIERRITT AND ALFRED E. WATQS, 01F DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

S FOR AUTOMATICALLY I Application filed November To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that we, FRANK W. MERRITT and ALFRED E. WATTs, both citizensof the United States, and both residing at Duluth, in the county of St.Louisv and State of Minnesota, have jointly invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Means for Automatically Registering a ShipsDraft, of which we do hereby declare the following to be aspecification.

Our invention relates to devices for automatically registering a shipstemporary draft and has for its object the provision of means forautomatically making such re 'stration at any or all times in the pilothouse, navigating room, or other, suitable place on the vessel, thusavoiding the necessity of reading depth-marks upon the outside of thehull or of measuring the ships freeboard from the deck and thuscalculating the draft. Our invention is particularly convenient for useduring the operationof loading, at which time it is desired to sodistribute the load as to properly trim the ship, and at the same timeto determine when the predetermined or permissible draft limit has beenreached at the bow, stern, and amidships. Another object of our in-.vention is to provide inboard means for determining the draft factorfor calculating the temporary displacement of a ship from which the deadweight'of the ship, or of the ship and cargo may be figured. If desiredone device embodying our said invention may be installed on thestarboard side of the ship, and another on the port side for the purposeof furnishing separate draft readings for the opposite sides of theship, so that the vessel may be leveled athwartships while she is beingloaded.

With these and other objects in view, our

' invention consists of the constructions, combinations and arrangementsof parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1',is a diagrammatic view showing the hull of aship with deck houses thereon, and showing the general arrangement ofthe hereinafter described pressure cylinders, gages and pipe linesembodied in our invention. Fig.2 is a side elevation of-our saidinvention, partly. in central longitudinal section and partly brokenaway, showing also in vertical longitudinal section a portiorrof theships bottom. Fig. 3 is a central vertical longitudinal section througha portion of a modified Specification of Letters Patent.

REGISTERING A. SHIPS DRAFT.

Patented June 7, 1921.

17, 1919. Serial No. 338,675.-

form of our device showing the hereinafter spectively for registeringthedraft at the bow. and amidships and at the stern. There is no differencein their structural features, and therefore only one of them will bedescribed in detail, as for example the mid: ship installation. shown inFig. 2.

Referring to Fig.2, 1 is the bottomof the ship which is apertured in anysuitable manner at 1, by a group'ofsmall holes or by a single largeropening as desired, which aperture is covered by and communicates with apipe line 2, which at a point near its lower end is provided with a gatevalve 2 by which it may be closed during the assembly or repair of partsat the opposite.

v The drawings, Fig. 1, show? threelnstallatlons of our invention, asat- A, B, and C. These installations are re-.

cones 3, of metal, adapted to strain the inflowing water. Said pipe 2,terminates at oneend in a pressure cylinder 4, of any suitablestructure, containing a piston 5., In order to translate the forwardpressure of sea water upon the piston 5 into terms of draft-feet uponthe hereinafter described gage, we prefer-to reduce the bore of saidcylinder at its upper or forward end as at 4 and to correspondinglyreduce the forward end of said piston as at 5 the reduced end of thepiston fitting closely into the reduced bore of said cylinder, and thelarger end of the piston fitting closely into the large end of the boreof said cylinder. The

difference in the diameters of said bores isapproximately as 2.3 to 1.Separate cylinders of difi'erent diameters may of course be placed endto end and substituted for the single cylinder with a large and reducedlbore. In Fig. 3 such separate cylinders are shown in central verticallongitudinal sec- I tion, as at 4 and 4 respectively.

' No water is permitted to pass the larger end of said piston 5 from thesea, and no fluid from any point forward of said piston is permitted topass the reduced end 5* of said piston. It will be observed that attimes during the stroke of said piston 5, there W111 be a space 49between the forward face of the enlarged end of said piston and theopposing end of the large chamber of said cylinder. To prevent theformation of a vacuum in said space, and to prevent the imprisonment andcompression of air therein, according as the piston is moving backwardor forward, a vent 4 is provided communicating with said space and withthe free atmosphere. Communicating with said structure at any suitablepoint between the rear end of said piston and the forward end of saidstrainer is a blow-out pipe 6, leading to the ships boiler (not shown)or pump, or other source (not shown) of fluid under pressure for thepurpose of blowing any mud or other impurities or obstructions out ofthe intake end of said system. A check valve' 6 is interposed in saidblow-out pipe near its lower end to prevent the sea water from passingtoward the boilers or other source of fluid under pressure, whilepermitting steam or other fluid to'flow toward the open end of system.Above the check valve is a gate valve 6".

Communicating with the forward end of the reduced bore 4* of saidcylinder 4 is a pipe line 7 extending forward or upward any location onthe vessel at which it is esired to register the draft, as, for example,into said room 1". Near its upper end said pipe line divides into threebranches, as 7 7 and 7, respectively. One of said branches as 7", isprovided with a terminal pressure gage 8 of any suitable structure forrecording internal pressures of fluid character, such, for example, asare well known to the art, and we believe it requires no furtherdescription here. \Ve prefer, however, to provide a double row or circleof registering marks upon the dial of saidv gage, one of which will showthe correct registration when the ship is in salt water, and the otherof which will show the correct registration when the ship is in freshwater. Between said gage and the main stem of said pipe 7, a gate valve9'is preferably interposed for shutting off from the gage 8 anyexcessive pressure which may be occasioned by the pounding of the shipin a heavy sea. Another of said branches, as 7 is provided with aterminal cup. 10, for filling said pipe line 7 and said branches 7*,7and 7; said I cup is adapted to be closed by a tight cover 10. Theremaining one of said branches, as

7, is provided with a terminal pressure chamber 11, containing a piston11 of any suitable construction adapted to be arbitrarily operated byany suitable'means, as by a manually operatable screw ll extendingthrough-the cover 11 of said chamber. Said pressure chamber is for thepurpose of increasing or diminishing the pressure on said gage of thefluid in said pipe line 7 (by increasing or diminishing the cubicalcapacity of that part of chamber 11 lying below the piston 11 tocompensate for any leakage which may have occurred in said pipe line, orto restore the proper pressure when for any reason due to excessiveorinadequate pressure the gage does not register correctly. Saidpressure chamber 11 may be placed at any convenient point on the pipeline 7. Gate valves, as 7 and 7 are preferably interposed in said branch7 and in the main stem; of said pipe 7, respectively, and at anysuitable points where it may be desired to place them in order to closethe system at one end for the purpose of repairs or otherwise. The pipeline 7 and its branches are preferably filled with a non-congealingfluid of any suitable character, such'as glycerin and alcohol, or amedium lubricating oil (as sperm oil) and turpentine; although otherfluids may be used, especially in warm climates. The pipe water in pipeline 2 and of the fluid in pipe line 7 is entirely prevented by thepiston 5--5".

The opening in the bottom of the ship at the mouth of pipe 2, ispreferably covered or protected by a perforated convex cover or shoe 12,closed towardthe bow and preferably slightly open toward the stern, saidshoe or cover being for the purpose of preventing as far as possible theentranceof mud and sand and other coarse impur1t1es.

In operation, the pressure of the'sea water against the piston 5increases as the ship is loaded and sinks deeper into the-water. Saidpressure is communicated by said piston to the column offluid in pipeline 7 and by said fluid to the pressure gage.

aving now described our invention, what we claim is- '1. In a device forregistering the temporary draft of a vessel, the combination with thehull of a vessel having an aperture formed through its bottomcommunicating with the free water in which the ship floats, of a waterconductor covering said opening -and communicatingtherewith at one end,

a pressure cylinder communicating at one end with the opposite end ofsaid conductor, a floating plston within said cylinder, a fluidcontainer communicating at one end with'the opposite end ofsaid'pressure cylinder, said fluid container communicating 2. Thecombination with the hull of a ship having an aperture formed throughits bottom adapted to communicate with the free water in which the shipmay float,.of a water conductor covering and communicating at one endwith said aperture,means interposed in said conductor for straining thewater flowing into said conductor, a pressure cylinder communicating atone end with the opposite end of said conductor, a floating piston insaid pressure cylinder, a fluid container communicating at one end withthe opposite end of said pressure cylinder, an internal fluid pressuregage communicatin with the opposite end of said'fluid container, meansfor filling said fluid container, means for varying the cubical capacityof said fluid container, said piston being adapted to prevent thepassage of water through said cylinder from said conductor, and toprevent the passage of fluid through said cylinder from said fluidcontainer.

3. The combination with the hull of a vessel' having an aperture formedin its bottom adapted to communicate with the free Water in which thevessel may float, of a water conductor adapted at one end to cover andcommunicate with said aperture, a pressure cylinder communicating at one-end with theopposite end of said conductor, the bore of saidpressurecylinder being reduced at its opposite end, a floating piston withinsaid pressure cylinder, said piston being reduced in diameter at oneend, said reduced end fitting closely the reduced'portion of the bore ofsaid cylinder, the larger endof said piston fitting closely the largerportion of the bore of said cylinder, a fluid container communicating atone end with the reduced bore of said cylinder forward of, said piston,an internal fluid pressure gage communicating with the opposite end ofsaid fluid container, means for filling said fluid container, means forvarying the cubical capacity of said fluid container, said piston beingadapted to prevent the passage through said cylinder of water from saidconductor, and to prevent the passage through said cylinder of fluidfrom said fluid container.

l. The combination with the hull. of a conductor, a floating piston insaid cylinder,

means for blowing the sediment out of said straining means, a fluidcontainer communicating at one end with the opposite end of saidcylinder, an internal fluid pressure gage communicating with theopposite end of said fluid container, a cup or funnel mounted upon andsecured to said fluid container for filling the same, a cover for saidcup or funnel, a pressure chamber communicating with and forming part ofsaid fluid container, a piston within said chamber, means for operatingthe latter piston for arbitrarily varying the cubical capacity of saidfluid container, and gate valves for closing said fluid container atsuitable points to. permit repairs.

5. The combination with the hull of a vessel having an aperture formedtherein below the water line adapted to admit water at hyd ostaticpressure only from the body in whi h the vessel floats, of a waterconductor communicatln at one end with sald g aperture and covering thesame, a fluid container, a pressure gage connected to one end of saidcontainer, and means for closing the opposite ends of said waterconductor and of said container and for transmitting pressure from waterin said conductor to fluid in said container, said transmitting meansbeing adapted to be operated by water at hydrostatic pressure only.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto affix our signatures in presence oftwo witnesses.

FRANK W. MERRITT. ALFRED n. WATTS.

Witnesses:

JAMEsT. WATSON, W. DUNDEsHIN.

